NewsPronto

 
The Times


.

USA Conversation

The Conversation USA

The Conversation USA

When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands captured the fallout

  • Written by Ivano W. Aiello, Professor of Marine Geology, San José State University
imageA battery energy storage facility that was built inside an old power plant burned from Jan. 16-18, 2025.Mike Takaki

When fire broke out at the world’s largest battery energy storage facility in January 2025, its thick smoke blanketed surrounding wetlands, farms and nearby communities on the central California coast.

Highways closed,...

Read more: When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands...

More Articles ...

  1. Speaker Johnson’s choice to lead by following the president goes against 200 years of House speakers building up the office’s power
  2. Iran’s president calls for moving its drought-stricken capital amid a worsening water crisis – how Tehran got into water bankruptcy
  3. Guinea-Bissau’s military takeover highlights the nation’s sorry history of coups and a deepening crisis across the region
  4. Drones, physics and rats: Studies show how the people of Rapa Nui made and moved the giant statues – and what caused the island’s deforestation
  5. As US hunger rises, Trump administration’s ‘efficiency’ goals cause massive food waste
  6. A year on, the Israeli-Lebanese ceasefire looks increasingly fragile − could a return to cyclical violence come next?
  7. How does Narcan work? Mapping how it reverses opioid overdose can provide a molecular blueprint for more effective drugs
  8. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence – and that affects what scientific journals choose to publish
  9. George Plimpton’s 1966 nonfiction classic ‘Paper Lion’ revealed the bruising truths of Detroit Lions training camp
  10. Pentagon investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly revives Cold War persecution of Americans with supposedly disloyal views
  11. A database could help revive the Arapaho language before its last speakers are gone
  12. How food assistance programs can feed families and nourish their dignity
  13. What makes a true Santa is inside – and comes with the red suit
  14. ‘Without prejudice’: What this 2-word legalese means for the dismissed charges against James Comey and Letitia James
  15. From concrete to community: How synthetic data can make urban digital twins more humane
  16. The ChatGPT effect: In 3 years the AI chatbot has changed the way people look things up
  17. When darkness shines: How dark stars could illuminate the early universe
  18. Fern stems reveal secrets of evolution – how constraints in development can lead to new forms
  19. A quarter of early child care educators in Colorado reported mistreatment from co-workers
  20. Sea level doesn’t rise at the same rate everywhere – we mapped where Antarctica’s ice melt would have the biggest impact
  21. Automated systems decide which homeless Philadelphians get housing and who stays on the street – often in ways that feel arbitrary to those waiting
  22. Treating love for work like a virtue can backfire on employees and teams
  23. Colleges teach the most valuable career skills when they don’t stick narrowly to preprofessional education
  24. Thousands of genomes reveal the wild wolf genes in most dogs’ DNA
  25. Peace plan presented by the US to Ukraine reflects inexperienced, unrealistic handling of a delicate situation
  26. Writing builds resilience by changing your brain, helping you face everyday challenges
  27. More than half of new articles on the internet are being written by AI – is human writing headed for extinction?
  28. Nonprofit news outlets are often scared that selling ads could jeopardize their tax-exempt status, but IRS records show that’s been rare
  29. How will the universe end?
  30. AI is making spacecraft propulsion more efficient – and could even lead to nuclear-powered rockets
  31. Mid-Atlantic mushroom foragers collect 160 species for food, medicine, art and science
  32. We created health guidelines for fighting loneliness - here’s what we recommend
  33. Nick Fuentes is a master of exploiting the current social media opportunities for extremism
  34. What Robert F. Kennedy Jr. didn’t tell you about ‘Operation Northwoods,’ the false flag operation he loves to denounce
  35. From invasive species tracking to water security – what’s lost with federal funding cuts at US Climate Adaptation Science Centers
  36. Just follow orders or obey the law? What US troops told us about refusing illegal commands
  37. Colorado is pumping the brakes on first-of-its-kind AI regulation to find a practical path forward
  38. The plague of frog costumes demonstrates the subversive power of play in protests
  39. John Fetterman is an unusual politician – but his rise from borough mayor to US senator reflects a recent trend
  40. Making GLP-1 weight loss drugs cheaper isn’t enough to address America’s obesity problem – here’s why
  41. Off-label use of COVID-19 vaccines was once discouraged but has become common amid new guidelines
  42. From ‘mail-order brides’ to ‘passport bros,’ the international dating industry often sells traditional gender roles
  43. $2B Counter-Strike 2 crash exposes a legal black hole: Your digital investments aren’t really yours
  44. Farmers – long Trump backers – bear the costs of new tariffs, restricted immigration and slashed renewable energy subsidies
  45. First Amendment in flux: When free speech protections came up against the Red Scare
  46. AI is providing emotional support for employees – but is it a valuable tool or privacy threat?
  47. Who wins and who loses as the US retires the penny
  48. ‘Jeffrey Epstein is not unique’: What his case reveals about the realities of child sex trafficking
  49. College students are now slightly less likely to experience severe depression, research shows – but the mental health crisis is far from over
  50. 50 years after Franco’s death, giving a voice to Spanish dictator’s imprisoned mothers